The impact of your donation in terms of student opportunities, faculty innovation, improved facilities, effective outreach and creative educational practices is immense. Your support helps us provide the tools to achieve excellence and meet the challenges of the future. We offer a wide range of giving opportunities:

Student Support

Parents Learn By Doing Fund

Following the success of the Architectural Engineering (ARCE) Department’s first phase of the Parents Learn by Doing Fund, the department has embarked on a second iteration of this valuable fund. In the first campaign, Florian and Lori Barth, parents of Ian Barth (ARCE, ’14) donated $50,000 to the department as a challenge to other parents to match their contribution, dollar for dollar. The department met that $100,000 goal last year and is using a slightly different strategy to raise another $100,000. Department Head Al Estes is seeking five parents to each donate $10,000, with the remaining $50,000 coming from parents and supporters contributing in whatever increments they can. “The only purpose of the fund is to enhance the student experience at Cal Poly,” Estes said. “So far, we have sent students to present research at conferences, to compete in national competitions, and to attend conferences, including  the annual meeting of the Structural Engineers Association  of California.”

The fund has also supported senior projects and master’s theses and faculty creativity in the classroom. It has funded awards, the Week of Welcome luncheon, and the ARCE new freshmen T-shirts. The first couple to contribute $10,000 is Samir and Madlyn Rustagi, parents of recent graduate Dani Rustagi (ARCE, ’16). Estes recognized the Rustagis in remarks during the ARCE Department’s post-commencement ceremony and urged other parents to contribute toward the $100,000 goal, which Estes hopes to reach by next year’s graduation. In response, ARCE parents Dan and Debra Hall, whose son Nate Hall (ARCE, ’16) also graduated in spring, pledged the second $10,000. “Nobody has a more vested interest in the program than those who have entrusted us with their sons and daughters,” Estes said.

 

Click on this link to give to the Parents Learn by Doing Fund.

Architectural Engineering Fund For Excellence​

 

Your gift to our discretionary fund allows us to go above and beyond what state dollars allow.  These additional gifts provide that margin of excellence that sets us apart.  We are able to enhance the student experience through conference attendance, national competitions, guest speaker hosting, field trips, creative classroom experiences, hands-on physical models, interdisciplinary collaboration, real world applicability, industry connection, small class sizes, and frequent student-faculty interaction.

Click on this link to give to the Architectural Engineering Fund for Excellence

Competitions

Students are encouraged to enter hands-on competitions to foster resourcefulness, project management skills, and the ability to work in teams.  In the past, Architectural Engineering students have placed 1^st in these national competitions: EERI Seismic Design Competition, SEI Student Structural Design Competition, AEI Student Design Competition, and Brocade Challenge.

Donations from individuals, alumni and companies allow student teams the opportunity to travel and compete against teams from other universities from around the region and nation.

Click on this link to learn more about the Cal Poly International Seismic Design Team.

Click on this to give to the Cal Poly International Seismic Design Team. 

Scholarships

Scholarship support is a critical part of student success. Your donation not only provides financial support to the recipients - it can make the difference between whether a student joins an academic club, participates in a distant field trip, or is simply able to afford personal textbooks and design codes.

Join our industry, foundation and family scholarship supporters –

• Degenkolb Engineers Scholarship and Internship
• Englekirk & Sabol
• Emanuele Barelli Structural Engineer Scholarship
• Eugene E. Cole Senior Project Award
• Fluor Corporation Scholarship
• Forell/Elsesser Engineers Scholarship
• Fratessa Memorial Scholarship
• Hans Mager Scholarship
• John Labib & Associates Scholarship
• John A. Martin Scholarship
• John Edmisten Global Travel Scholarship (Coming soon!)
• KNA Senior Project Grant
• KPFF Scholarship
• Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. Scholarship
• Simpson Strong Tie Scholarship
• Structural Engineering Association of Northern California Scholarship
• Structural Engineering Association of Southern California Scholarship

$1,000 is the minimum donation necessary to offer a scholarship. Consider supporting an existing scholarship, or starting your own today!  Contact the department office at (805) 756-1314 for more information.

Students in Need

Life happens, and it’s never on time. The computer breaks right before the final report is due, or an emergency back home requires an immediate trip to see family. Maybe incoming dollars don’t match up to the bills, or a student is short on materials for a final project. Help to ensure that a student with an emergency has the support they need to meet the challenge.

Click on this link to give to the Students in Need Fund.

 

Program Support

Courses and the laboratory classrooms where they are held are where our students gain valuable learn-by-doing experience.  Your support helps keep these courses updated and industry-specific, and keeps the labs state-of-the-art, allowing us to stay on track with new innovations and trends in technologies.

Course Sponsorship

Course sponsorships allow a donor to invest in a specific element of the curriculum and make a tangible difference in the ARCE educational experience. It targets a particular disciplinary expertise that is meaningful to the donor.  Your support contributes to every aspect of a course which could include equipment and supplies/materials, textbooks, guest speakers, professional development opportunities to faculty and/or students, faculty salary, new teaching methodologies, or training aids/ physical models that enhance instruction – literally anything that enhances the course.  Contact the department office at arce@calpoly.edu or (805)756-1314 for more information.

Current course sponsorship partners are 

• The Masonry Association of California and Nevada
• The Friends and Family of Carson Starkey
• The John Edmisten steel course endowment
• The Jim Troxel interdisciplinary course endowment

Laboratory Sponsorships 

Your sponsorship of a specific lab or classroom allows us to maintain, improve and rehabilitate our classrooms and facilities.  Funds go toward everything from improved window treatments and new furniture to smart-room capability and the latest technology. You or your company will have exclusive naming rights to the selected lab for five years.   To the extent possible, the laboratories expose companies to the ARCE students and celebrate the achievements and heritage of the donor.  Contact the department office at arce@calpoly.edu or (805) 756-1314 for more information.  

Current laboratory sponsorship partners are –

•  Computers & Structures, Inc.
•  Degenkolb Engineers
•  Simpson Strong-Tie
•  Berridge Manufacturing
•   Clark Pacific
•   SidePlate Systems
•   Nucor

Endowed Professorships

The ARCE program is one of the few in the nation that offers a dual-track path where an experienced practitioner can become a tenured member of the faculty.  The practitioner faculty are a key reason why ARCE graduates are ready for industry upon graduation.  This $5 million endowment supports the hiring, professional development and innovative activities of a named practitioner faculty member.  These endowments ensure that the ARCE program will have practitioner faculty in perpetuity.

ARCE Magazine

An annual publication, your gift of $10,000 will ensure our alumni and friends are updated on student and faculty projects.  The magazine is mailed to approximately 3500 alumni, students, friends and industry partners.  The gift helps offset the production and mailing costs of the magazine.  You and/or your company will be profiled in a feature article of the magazine.

For more information on any of the above giving programs, please contact Dr. Allen Estes, Architectural Engineering Department Head at 805-756-1314 or acestes@calpoly.edu; or the CAED Advancement Office at 805-756-5138.

Matching Gifts

Employers often match their employee donations, under certain circumstances or for specific purposes, which could double your gift. If your employer participates in this type of program, consider asking them to match your gift to Cal Poly. Contact the CAED Advancement office at 805-756-5138 for more information.

Planned Gifts

Make a legacy gift to ARCE, the college or the university by recording your intent in your estate plans.

Contact the CAED Advancement office at 805-756-5138 for more information.